The 1960 Ludlow by-election was a parliamentary

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

constituency of Ludlow on 16 November 1960.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Conservative MP,

Christopher Holland-Martin Christopher John Holland-Martin (16 November 1910 – 5 April 1960) was a British banker and Conservative Party politician. Early career The son of the Chairman of Martins Bank, Holland-Martin was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. ...

on 5 April 1960. He had been MP here since holding the seat in 1951.

Election history

Ludlow had been won by the Conservatives at every election since 1950 when they gained the seat from the Liberals. The result at the last General election was as follows;

Candidates

*The Conservatives selected 53-year-old

Jasper More Sir Jasper More (born Chelsea, 31 July 1907 – died Clun, 28 October 1987) was a British Conservative Party politician, the son of Sir Thomas Jasper Mytton More (died 1947), a Shropshire landowner, and Lady Norah Browne, daughter of Henry Br ...

. He was a landowner and farmer and since 1955 had chaired the

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

branch of the Country Landowners' Association. He became a

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

lor in 1958. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

, becoming a barrister, called by

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

and

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1930. His career at the bar ended with the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was a civilian employee of the

Ministry of Economic Warfare The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. See also * Blockade of Germany (193 ...

and the Ministry of Aircraft Production and Light Metals Control until 1942, was commissioned as an Army legal officer on the

General List The General Service Corps (GSC) is a corps of the British Army. Role The role of the corps is to provide specialists, who are usually on the Special List or General List. These lists were used in both World Wars for specialists and those not allo ...

in 1943, and was in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

until 1945 and with the military government of the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...

until 1946. In 1944, he married Clare Hope-Edwards, also a Shropshire landowner. *Labour re-selected 32-year-old John Garwell, a schoolmaster. He contested Ludlow in 1959. He was educated at

Nottingham High School , motto_translation = Praise to the end , address = Waverley Mount , city = Nottingham , county = Nottinghamshire , postcode = NG7 4ED , country = England , coordinates = , type = Independent day school , established = , closed = , religious ...

, Nottingham University and Birmingham University. He was a Member of Warwick Rural District Council, the Midlands New Towns Association, and the Fabian Society. *The Liberals intervened and selected 52-year-old Lt-Col. Denis Rees. He had contested neighbouring

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

in 1959. He was an industrial relations adviser. He was educated at

Caterham School (Truth without Fear) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding school , religious_affiliation = Protestant (United Reformed Church) , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

and

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, Canada. He was Mayor of Pembroke from 1937-38. He was Chairman of South Wales Liberal Federation.The Times Guide House of Commons, 1964

Campaign

Even though the previous MP died on 5 April 1960, Polling Day was not fixed until 16 November 1960.

Result

The Conservative Party held the seat.

Aftermath

Only More went on to contest the seat at the following elections. Rees contested Cardiff North and Garwell contested Birmingham Selly Oak. The result at the 1964 general election;